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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127845
ROAD RACE
AMA/MBNA SUPERBIKE
NAnONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Round 5: New Hampshire International Spee~way
(1:13.701); 10. Thomas Stevens (1:13.733); 11. Tommy
Hayden 0:14.299); 12. Gerald Rothman Jr. 0:14.(61);
13. Thomas Wilson O:14.540}; 14. Larry Pegram
0,14.611); 15. Mike Barnes (,15.080); 16. Tripp obles
0,15.450); 17. Doug Polen (U6.023); 18. Paul Harrell
(H6.706); 19. John Scheehser (],I 6.876); 20. Richard
Alexander Jr. 0'16.919); 21. Brett Guyer 0'16.944); 22.
Brett Metzger (U7.074J; 23. Jason Pridmore (U7.277);
24. James Randolph 0:17.474); 25. Mario DuHamel
0:17.522); 26. Dale Kieffer (1:17.545); 27. Mark Miller
(U7.982); 28. Dax Snow (U8.139); 29. Mike
Fitzpatrkk (1:18.360); 30. Christopher Rankin
0'18.473); 31. Seth Hahn (U8.622); 32. Brian Gibbs
(U8.745); 33. Anthony Lupo 0'18.944); 34. John Jacobi
(U9.189); 35. Dean Mizdal (U9.462); 36. Roger Bell
(U9.516); 37. Mark McDaniel (U9.57l); 38. Stephen
Cooke (U9.718); 39. Jimmy Moore (tzO.11l); 40. Steve
Arsenault (tzO.211).
AMA SUPERB IKE NATIONAL, 1. Mal Mladin
(Duc); 2. Aaron Yates (Suz); 3. Steve Crevier (Han); 4.
Doug Chandler (Kaw); 5. Tom Kipp (Yam); 6. Pascal
Picotte (Suz); 7. Chris Carr (H-O); 8. Gerald Rothman Jr.
(Duc); 9. Larry Pegram (Su.); 10. Tripp Nobles (H-D);
11. Michael Barnes (H-D); 12. Paul Harrell (Yam); 13.
"My soft lire dropped off really bad
about 15 laps into it, and I was expecting that to happen to the guys that were
running a softer tire, the two Hondas
and Yates," Kipp said. "But that didn't
happen; the (Dunlop) 501 performed a
little better than I thought it was going
to. We had trouble getting that tire to
work on my bike.
"Doug and r, we both dropped off
the pace pretty hard at about the same
time," Kipp continued. "He dropped off
a few laps earlier than I did, but I knew
at that point that he was running the
same stuff that I was running. Because
our bikes were acting real similar, compared to the guys that we were running
with.
II
Picotte's tire problems began on the
third lap, with what he described as "a
lot - I mean a lot - of wheel-spin. I
thought I had a flat tire. It was just
impossible. It can't be that wrong; it's
impossible. I thought I was going to
have to stop and change the lire. I said,
'I'm going to try to keep goi ng, keep
going, maybe it's going to get better.'" It
never did.
Carr came along next, after being
unwilling to force the traffic issue as
badly as Picotte, though he ran up near
him until about the 25th lap.
"I was chasing Picotte for a while,
and Pascal got through traffic much better than I did," lamented Carr. "Same
old problem: can't get through problems
as well as the other guys. I think it's a
combination of things, but I would say
it's more me than the motorcycle. I'm
just not confident enough in lifting people up everywhere, not yet. A couple of
guys I lifted up by yelling at them. On
the brakes going into the corner side by
side with them, and they start tipping it
in there, and 1'm on the inside and I go,
'Hey!' and they go, 'Whoa.' It's an old
trick I learned from the marathon days
at the Lodi Cycle Bowl. I did that twice."
Rothman was next across, after giving up his spot to Carr on the 14th lap.
Pegram was about 2.5 seconds back,
with Nobles 10th, and first privateer. (":'(
New Hampshire International Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
Results: June 15, 1997 (Round 5 of 10)
SlJPERBLKE QUALIFYING, 1. Doug Chandler
(1:13.033); 2. Mat Mladin 0:13.258); 3. Aaron Yates
0:13.309); 4. Tom Kipp 0:13.311); 5. Ben Bostrom
(U3.325); 6. Miguel DuHamel (U3.349); 7. Chris Carr
(1:13.394); 8. Steve Crevier 0:13.611); 9. Pascal Picotte
Go fast Friday
F
riday was the day to go fast in qualifying at Loudon, with
a lack of grip, howling winds, and nerve-racl